Adapting to Circumstance
by readingandstuff
Summary: Since the Disasteroid, Ghosts and Humans have finally reached a Truce; Ghosts don't attack Amity, humans don't bother ghosts. Now, two years later, Danny and his friends actually befriended ghosts and have them as allies. But, what happens when there's a break in the Truce? And how does Danny react when he finds out it was from a ghost he thought he could trust?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

 **Hey guys! Thank you for joining me on the wacky ride that will be this story.**

 **First off, I haven't written anything in YEARS. So, please, do me a favor and DO NOT read the other stories that I have in this profile. The only reason I haven't deleted them is because they hold a special place in my heart and it would be kind of sad to delete it at this point.**

 **But anyway! In this story, only several aspects of Phantom Planet happened. That being, the Disasteroid and Vlad revealing himself to everyone. Sam and Danny never kissed, Tucker never became mayor, and Danny never revealed himself to the entire world. But enough of that, let's move on to the story! I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

"Can he get detention if it's the last day of school?" asked Tucker.

"No idea. Where is he anyway? Did you see him this morning?" she replied quickly, tapping her fingers on her desk and looking back at the classroom door repeatedly.

"Sam, calm down. I'm sure he's fine. He could've just overslept; we stayed up until three in the morning playing the new Doom game", he smiled.

"But what if-" the door opened with a panting blue eyed boy walking through it.

"Late again, Mr. Fenton. I realize it's the last day of school, but that does not mean you can just show up whenever you want like some sort of delinquent" said an educator so tiresome, he wasn't putting any effort into his words and counting down the minutes until he go home and have a nice lavender scented bubble bath.

"Yes, Mr. Lancer" he replied, sitting in his chair by his two concerned friends. They wait for Lancer to forget about Danny before speaking. Sam was first.

"Who was it?" Danny didn't say anything while he stared at a random little spot on his desk. It was Tucker's turn. "Bro? You okay? What happened? Who was it?" Danny sunk lower in his desk. "Danny, you're scaring me. Who was it?" asked an anxious Sam, who started tapping her fingers on her desk again. Danny didn't say anything for a beat before mumbling some non-coherent words. His two friends looked at each other before looking at him in confusion and both saying "Huh?"

Danny sighed. "The Guys in White". Sam and Tucker looked at each other again before they broke out laughing.

"Sam, Tucker, is there something you would like to share with the class?" asked an annoyed Lancer.

"No no, sir, nothing is going on here. We're fine" said an embarrassed halfa. Lancer gave a suspicious look before going back to his desk to continue his game of solitaire.

"Geez guys, you could've at least made it less obvious" said Danny, who was starting to feel quite exasperated.

"Dude, that was it? The Guys in White?" Tucker asked, taking off his beret to fan himself with, still chuckling.

"Hey, I was running late! And I thought that Phantom could get me to school faster and that's when they decided to show up!" he threw his hands in the air for emphasis. Sam smiled at him with a raised eyebrow, "it's your own fault for playing video games all night with tucker. And hey, next time, maybe you should just hand them your day to day schedule so they know exactly would be a good time to partake in a fun ghost chase". Danny rolled his eyes "Har har. I swear guys, it's almost as if my enemies have no regard for me as a person" he said sarcastically.

"It's nice, though. We haven't had that many attacks since the Truce. I gotta say, I'm surprised they even lasted this long. It's been almost two years since the Disasteroid, you'd think that they would have broken by now," replied Tucker, curiously.

Sam raised her hands in surrender, "Hey, I'm not complaining. And I suggest you don't either."

* * *

The trio was walking back to Danny's house after school. They were ready for the next couple of months. It was the summer before they started college so they planned on spending it with little to no complications, which, thanks to the Truce, might make it possible.

The Truce was something that, if it wasn't called for, wouldn't have happened. The Disasteroid was a game changer for the ghosts. They always thought they were top dog and nothing could bring them down except for an annoying, yet powerful white haired and green eyed teenager. The Disasteroid proved them wrong and it brought humans and ghosts to an understanding when they saw that their worlds being threatened. After ghosts saved their world and intentionally but also unintentionally saved the human world, Danny went to the ghost zone and attempted to call a truce. Surprisingly, they agreed once they realized that humans and ghosts could help each other out if the world were ever to come into danger again.

That's not to say the ghosts don't get restless. Amity Park still gets ghost attacks, just not to the extent it used to and not by the more familiar ghosts. The ones who attack are from other areas of the ghost zone that just discovered Amity Park for the first time and have somehow not heard of the half ghost who is quiet territorial of his town. Needless to say, most of them do not return. But there are a lot of ghosts. So they still have attacks.

They get to Danny's house and immediately go to the kitchen. "Mom, dad, we're home!" yelled Danny. He opened the fridge, saw the fudge, took a bite, and heard his parent's footsteps approaching the kitchen.

"Danny-boy!"- Jack exclaimed- "I heard the Guys in White went after Phantom today. Are you okay?"

Danny put the fudge back in the fridge before answering, "yeah, dad, I'm okay." Maddie smiled and said "that's good, sweetie." before hitting the back of his head, "but what have I said about being Phantom before school hours?" Sam and Tucker snickered and caused Danny to shoot them a glare before looking at his mom sheepishly, "you said not to. But mom, I was going to be late to class!"

"You were still late to class, dude"

"Tucker, shut up!" Danny yelled. Tucker and Sam kept laughing at the exchange between mother and son.

The Truce between humans and ghosts wasn't the only one made because of the Disasteroid. Before Danny flew off in the Speeder to round up the ghosts, he decided that just in case they didn't make it through the event, he wanted his parents to know who he was beforehand. He wanted a clear conscience in knowing that his parents knew where he was and what he was doing if he wasn't there before the asteroid hit. So he told his parents. Or, rather, showed his parents. Maddie and Jack felt guilty that they spent so long hunting him but they couldn't focus on it with the situation at hand so instead they felt impressed by him and cheered him on while he saved the planet.

Ever since then, they've been adapting to having a son who barely maintains a B average while also being a half ghost vigilante. And they'd be lying if they said they weren't the proudest parents in the world.

"So, no ghost attacks today, Danny?" asked Jack after the back and forth died down between his wife and son.

"Nope- but we are all completely okay with it. It is our last summer before college so we are going to spend it-" Danny jumps in surprise and then groans before transforming into his white haired alter ego. Of course there would be an explosion on his first day of summer.

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 **And that's the end of chapter one! I hope you enjoyed it! If you liked it or have questions or anything of that sort, don't hesitate to leave reviews! I would love to read them! Thank you for joining me and I'll see you next time!**

 **-readingandstuff**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two, here we go! Have fun!**

* * *

Danny flew down to the lab with the thermos in hand, annoyed. It hasn't even been twenty minutes in his vacation and he was already in his black jumpsuit.

"Come on! It's summer! Don't you guys take a break?! You guys really need to-" his rant came to a halt when he became aware of his surroundings. He was by himself. There was no ghost, only the ectoplasm splattered all over the walls that the Fenton Security System released when it detected ghost energy. It wouldn't detect Danny's, however. His parents learned the hard way that it would need to be calibrated so that it wouldn't attack Danny every time he would walk into his own house.

Scratching his head, Danny lowered himself to the ground, returning to his raven haired self. He started walking through the lab, turning over ectoguns, random files, anything to offer him some sort of understanding when he heard someone calling out his name.

"I'm in here!" he replied. Hearing the frantic footsteps behind him, he turned to his parents and friends and see them go from distressed to horrifically confused in a matter of seconds when they notice how mundane the lab looked. Well, apart from the ectogoo on the walls. He went back to his searching while the rest of the bunch all stood still; not wanting to accidentally taint the crime scene even though there didn't seem to be a crime scene to begin with. Danny, however, couldn't stop pacing. He was pretty sure he was about to make a hole in the floor so deep, it could take him to the ghost zone. And maybe Cambodia.

Baffled or not, they all needed answers and Sam was the first to speak. "Uh. What happened?"

Danny paused his walking and set his hands on his hips before turning to everyone. "I don't know", he answered slowly, "nothing happened. There's nobody here."

Maddie took it upon herself to quickly walk through the lab, mentally going over the weaponry inventory and any other sort of technology they had. "Nothing seems to be missing", she concluded.

They all felt relief over that and the tension that was in the room lessened. Not by much, but enough so that they were able to walk around without feeling like they had to look over their shoulder. They all split off and looked through the lab. Ten minutes later, they found themselves with no answers and no leads.

"Hmm. Maybe it was a fluke?" Tucker announced, staring at the wall of ectoplasm. He had already used his PDA to detect if there was any ghost DNA on the green goo, which led to all of them feeling disappointed when the test came back with negative results.

Danny pondered at that. The ghost didn't take anything and it seemed that it went back into the ghost zone. Maybe the explosion just scared off the ghost. That's what the security system was for anyway. Whatever it was, it left, and isn't that what matters? Maybe it _was_ a fluke. He shook his head. As nice as it sounds, he couldn't believe the accident was just an accident. He knew things were never that simple.

"I don't know. But just in case, we should check the security tapes. I'll go now", he was on his way to the stairs when his dad chimed in. "Uh Danny, the cameras haven't been working for over a year. The Truce had been going on for so long; we hadn't thought to fix it. I'm even surprised the FSS was set off; it hasn't been activated in years. Your mother and I assumed it stopped working with the cameras."

Danny furrowed his brows and wondered if that should concern him. There _have_ been other ghost attacks in his parent's lab and they didn't set off the FSS. Then again, they were also weaker level ghosts so maybe the system couldn't recognize the ecto-signature. And if that were the case-

"Let's go upstairs, kids. Jazz will be coming home from college soon and I want to have dinner ready by then. We'll deal with this mess later" Maddie stated, interrupting Danny's train of thought. Jack clapped his hands and rubbed them together in excitement, "Ah yes, time for fudge!" he exclaimed, running quickly ahead of everyone else. Maddie shook her head and chuckled as she followed him up the stairs. The trio took one last look at the lab before they looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders before heading upstairs. Sam and Tucker very quickly went into their nightly discussion of meat versus green when Danny stopped dead in his tracks. His two friends noticed his change of pace, or lack thereof, and followed suit.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked. He was too deep in thought to answer her. She didn't take this as a good sign so she stepped down several stairs until she was right in front of him. She slowly lifted her hands to his face, tilted it upwards to look at her, and kept her hands cupping his cheeks. She was slightly taller than him on account of being several steps above him so she had to lower her gaze to look at him and into his disengaged eyes. "Danny? Hey. Are you okay?" she asked, knowing he wasn't with them right now.

Danny couldn't respond. The FSS was activated and it was activated by a higher level ghost. Danny's hands suddenly felt clammy and his mouth tingly as he realized there weren't that many higher level ghosts he didn't know of.

Sam kept one hand on his check and moved the other one to his shoulder. She kept her eye contact on him until he finally stepped back into their world and looked into her violet eyes. He became hypnotized. Or that's what he thought happened, anyway. He didn't know how long he stayed looking at her and he didn't care. He was busy counting the amount of gold flecks she had in her eyes. He paused for a second. She was worried about him. He could tell. Her eyes gave it away. Her eyes gave everything away. Sure, she could act like a heartless and emotionless Goth but he had never seen anyone as expressive as her.

The concern in her eyes slowly faded away and was replaced by something else, although he couldn't exactly put his finger on what that was. But Dear God, he would give up almost anything just as long as she kept looking at him like that.

He almost forgot whatever stupid emotion he was feeling before until he heard Tucker loudly and dramatically clear his throat. And just like that, the spell was broken. Everything came flooding back and he was brought back into reality. Sam blinked several times before she took her hands off him, leaving him feeling cold in the areas she held him, and uncomfortably set her arms on her sides. She opened her mouth to speak again but before she was able to say anything, Danny blurt out, "Sam, do you think somebody broke the truce?"

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 **Thank you all so much for reading! I would very much appreciate feedback and your thoughts on this so far. I'll see you next time! ^_^**

 **-readingandstuff**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi again guys! Really quickly I just want to take this moment to thank those who have reviewed and followed this story. It really means a lot that people are taking time out of their day so they can read something I wrote. Thank you all :)**

 **Also, I don't own Danny Phantom. Even if I wish I did.**

* * *

The room shook by the scream that erupted from the halfa.

"No! No! No no no!" he yelled in protest. He knew how it went, he knew the codes, he knew the pattern, how could this happen?

"Ha! You lose again! I told you all that practice wouldn't help you." acknowledged Tucker. Danny just stared at the screen in despair and agitation. Tucker glanced at Sam, who was already staring at Danny in amusement, before he burst out laughing with Sam. Danny looked away from the blasted screen to glare at his two friends. "Hey! That's not funny! This game is broken," he concluded.

"No it's not" teased Sam, still giggling and holding her stomach.

Danny sighed in exasperation before dramatically throwing himself on his bed and using his hands to cover his face in shame. He's barely done anything since summer started; just a lot of video games, hanging out with Sam and Tucker, and the occasional ghost attack. It was actually kind of boring summer but he had no problem with it. He hasn't felt bored in years and he was happy to experience it again.

Tucker wiped a tear from his eye. "Dude, calm down. It's only PacMan", he chuckled before standing up from the chair he was sitting at that was near Danny's computer and started walking to the door. "Well, I'm gonna go help your dad in the lab. We're trying to update the Fenton phones so we don't keep getting the interference from that stupid radio soap opera" Tucker reported.

"Okay, we'll be down in a few. Jazz needs to update me on her new theory about ghost psychology anyway" responded Sam. Tucker nodded before heading out the door.

"Don't blow up the house" Danny yelled to his accident prone friend.

"No promises!" Tucker taunted. Danny chuckled before sitting up on his bed and turning to Sam, who was still sitting on the floor by the computer. They didn't talk about what happened between them in the lab. They never talk about it, no matter how often something like that happens. He knew how he felt; he just didn't know how she felt. When the whole Disasteroid thing happened, he was going to talk to Sam and tell her everything but he didn't have time. He ultimately decided that if they survived, he would tell her everything. Well, they survived, it's been two years and he still hasn't done anything. God, he fought ghosts, faced death _several_ times, but he still has trouble with girls. Typical. He keeps reassuring himself by saying he's waiting for the 'right time' so he wouldn't feel embarrassed about being, essentially, a coward.

However, that moment in the lab was definitely not the right time. Everyone was on edge from the 'attack'. Danny expressed his concerns about a ghost breaking the truce at the dinner when Jazz first came back from college. They all ate in silence for a while before Jazz claimed that if a ghost was going to break the truce, they would make a bigger show instead of just activating the FSS. That all seemed to calm everyone down but he still noticed his parents setting up the cameras and updating the Fenton Security System after dinner. His mom said she wasn't worried but she didn't want another situation like this happen again. His dad said he was just setting up the cameras to find out who's been eating his food.

Danny was paranoid about the whole thing. And he decided he wasn't going to spend his summer being paranoid. It's been a week since the incident and nothing has happened so everyone has lightened up and went back to their usual tasks. When he wasn't failing miserably at PacMan, he was out patrolling the town with Sam. Since Jazz has been back, she's been sharing her new hypothesis on ghost psychology; his mom went back to studying the components on ectoplasm, and his dad and Tucker were in the lab working on new inventions. They have all fallen into a routine and Danny liked it that way.

He stood up from his bed, walked over to Sam and held out his hand to her. She smiled at him, took his hand and stood up. He took his hand back and nervously scratched the back of his head and avoided eye contact before he spoke. "So… Wanna go for a ride?" he asked.

She furrowed her brows at him. "Now? It's not time for patrol." He tried composing himself a little so he wouldn't embarrass himself any further. "No, not for patrolling. Just to escape. It's summer, you know. We can enjoy ourselves" he teased. She jokingly glared at him and smiled before agreeing. "Where to?" she asked, putting her arm around his shoulder. He smiled brightly at her. "Let me handle that" he answered. She hopped and he caught her, holding her bridal style. He transformed to Phantom and flew the both of them out of his window.

* * *

She avoided this conversation for a week. She tried coming up with a plan but she had no way around it; she had to face him. She knew she had to.

He had summoned her so she had no idea where she was. She took a look around and noticed the ceiling was made of glass, letting light in. Other than that, it just looked like an abandoned, empty, gray room.

He materialized in front of her and stared her down with his fists clenched.

"Do you wish to explain yourself?" he growled, glaring his eyes at her. She took a step back and tried acting as casual as possible. She nervously licked her lips and spoke.

"I couldn't get it. As soon as I got there, their security system went off. I had to leave so I wouldn't cause suspicions" she explained. He clenched hands started glowing red.

"You fool! Do you not realize that you had already caused suspicion?!" he snarled. She stood up straight before him and glared. "What did you expect me to do? There was an explosion! I couldn't just stick around, it's a big lab, and you never told me where it is!" she spat out, making sure to keep her eyes on him and not to falter her demeanor. He stared at her before exhaling and turning away from her. He closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose with his hand that had stopped glowing red. He started pacing with his head down.

What was he to do? He needed to get his hands on that weapon but how? He was sure that the Fentons had probably updated the security system since this _pathetic_ excuse of a ghost had gone through the portal and set off the alarm. However, as much as he hated to admit it, she had a point. He didn't know where it was. And she wouldn't know either. Nobody would except for someone who has actually _been_ in the lab so what was he to- he stopped dead in his tracks. He opened his eyes and slowly lifted his head. He turned back to her and smiled wickedly. "You're going back" he stated.

Her eyes opened widely and opened her mouth in protest, "Didn't you just hear me? There's a security system- they'll know it's me"

He showed no acknowledgment to her concerns. "Then you will make yourself known. But you _are_ going back. However, you are getting something else now". She looked at him in question with an eyebrow raised. "Wh-what am I getting?"

He smiled so wide, it looked as if it could rip his mouth open. "You are bringing me someone from the Fenton family. Or someone close to the Fenton family". She stood still as she looked at him in shock. He was crazy. She was sure he was crazy. " _What_? What good would that do? Why don't you just set up cameras in there, find out where it is, and then just take it?"

He raised an eyebrow in amusement at her. Funny enough, he considered it. It would certainly make things easier. He could just throw the camera through the portal so nobody would have to go through the portal and set off the alarm. Then after he found it, he could send her back in and take it. It makes sense and he wouldn't waste any unnecessary time.

He turned around and placed his hands on his back. "Fine. You will go in there and set up cameras. However", he added, "you must still hand me someone from that family"

She didn't know how to respond to that. It didn't make sense. "N-no, I am _not_ violating the truce", she stuttered.

He whipped around quickly and got dangerously close to her. "You listen to me"- a lowly growl escaped his lips- "you forget that I still have someone in my cell. And if you want to keep your little friend one piece, you _will_ bring someone to me." he stepped back and smiled. "Just think of it as us getting even. I win one, you win one." She stood still and tried regaining her breath before slowly nodding. He clapped his hands together in excitement. "Good! Now- let me get you some equipment before I send you off" he practically skipped when he left the room.

He came back about a minute later and handed her the cameras. "So, any questions about the mission?" he asked. She had more questions than she could count. But she knew he wouldn't answer any of them. Still, she nodded.

"Just one", she spoke slowly, "Why do you need me to bring someone if you have the cameras in there? That's counterproductive. What is the purpose of it?"

"Oh, there is no purpose" he quickly spoke with his arms crossed. She blinked several times, trying to understand. "Then.. then why do it?"

He didn't even take a second to answer. He just looked at her with a crazy look in his eyes, smiled darkly, and said "Why not?"

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who read this! Be sure to review if you liked it, I would love to read what feedback you have.**

 **See you next time!**

 **-readingandstuff**


	4. Chapter 4

**New chapter, yay! I gotta say, it's absolutely distressing that something that takes about 4 or five hours could be read in two scrolls. Ah, well. Enjoy!**

 **I still don't own Danny Phantom. Unfortunately.**

* * *

"Danny holy crap!" was the only thing she could say when they arrived at their destination. He set her down on the grass, where they stood on top of a hill overlooking Amity Park with the crisp fresh air grazing their faces. He wasn't sure Sam would like their location but by the smile on her face, he knew she was satisfied.

She happily sighed and relaxed her shoulders. "Wow. We haven't been here since we were kids" she said.

"I know" he replied "and I figured now is as good time as any to come back to our little getaway location since, you know, we're going to college" he smiled as he sat down and leaned against their old oak tree.

She smiled back and sat right next to him. "You thought right." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of the leaves and the grass. "So. Are you nervous?" she asked, with her eyes still closed.

"With what?" he questioned. She opened her eyes and looked down at her town. Shefound herself tilting her head in wonder as she noticed how small her town looked from up there. She never knew such a small town would come with such big, complicated problems. She never knew she would love her small town as much as she did.

She furrowed her brows and said "I don't know. With whatever happens next."

Danny lifted his legs to his chest and laid his head on his knees as he observed Amity Park.

"I...I don't know" he sighed "I used to think everything would stay the same but things are already changing. Jazz is off to college, you leave in two weeks for your early acceptance, and Tucker is starting MIT in the fall. I'd be naïve to think nothing would change."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Oh Danny, don't say that. Of course things are gonna change. But we're also going to be within driving distance from each other. I mean, yeah, Tucker is going to be four hours away but that doesn't mean he won't make the drive. And you know I'm only about forty minutes away so I'm sorry to say this Danny, but you're pretty much stuck with me." She turned her head to look at him and he grinned at her in return.

"And I wouldn't have it any other way, Sam."

She kept smiling at him as she laid her head on his shoulder. Danny tensed up and he hoped she didn't notice. He kept his head straight, towards Amity Park, but using his peripheral vision to look at Sam. He felt himself calm down and he loosened the tension in his body. She slowly sighed in contentment as he put his arm around her. She lifted her head at him to find him already looking at her.

"So" she softly spoke "what happens next?"

He paused before he gave her a small smile. She stared at him, looking deep into his blue eyes; which she noticed were getting bigger. Or, wait, no they weren't; they were getting closer. She looked down at his lips as she started leaning in to him, never breaking eye contact. They both knew what was going to happen next. Or at least, they thought they did. The phone rang, ending the moment they thought they had and causing them both to jump about four feet from each other.

"You should, uh, you should probably get that" Sam stuttered, pointing at the phone in his pocket.

Danny blinked "Oh, uh yeah" he struggled and fidgeted trying to get the phone. After much trouble, he finally got his phone and panicked when he saw it was his dad calling. His dad never called unless it was for something important. Did something happen? Did a ghost attack? No, that doesn't make sense. He ghost sense didn't go off. Although, God knows he was slightly distracted a couple minutes ago. Trembling, he answered the phone and put the phone to his ear.

"Dad?"

"Jeez man, you take forever to pick up the phone. What- were you making out with Sam or something?"

"Tucker?" Danny was severely confused.

"Yeah- who did you think it was? Denzel Washington?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Oh gee, I don't know. My dad?" He replied sarcastically "Tucker, why do you have my dad's phone?"

"Oh, we accidentally blew mine up when we were testing out the Ecto-Gun. You should see it Danny- it's a beauty. Well, it _was_ a beauty before you dad got too trigger happy with the prototype and it exploded. He's cleaning himself off right now." He rambled.

"Tucker, why are you calling me?" Danny asked, getting impatient.

"Oh!" Tucker exclaimed. "I reached a new level in Doom!" He yelled excitedly.

Danny dropped his head in defeat and hung up on Tucker. Sam, who Danny found was next to him again, put her hand on his knee and looked at him in worry. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

He lifted his head and looked at her. "Yeah, just Tucker. He reached a new level in Doom."

Sam's face of worry turned into one of shock. "Wait seriously? Damn, now I gotta beat him." Danny chuckled before standing up and putting his hand in front of her.

"Time to go?" he asked. She didn't want to leave. And she knew he didn't want to leave either. But she knew they had more important things to work on than getting a few minutes of silence. They all knew that when things got silent, things got bad. So, she looked up at him, hesitantly took his hand and said, "Yeah. Time to go."

* * *

"Hey we're home!"

Jack poked his head out from the kitchen. "Danny! I didn't even realize you left." He left the kitchen, walking towards the two teenagers while wiping himself with a towel.

Danny chuckled nervously. "Uh yeah dad. I flew"

"Right! I never get used to that" he replied, cleaning out the green goo from his ear.

Danny raised an eyebrow at his peculiar dad. "So, I see you still got ectoplasm on you."

"Danny my boy, you would not believe how difficult it is to remove this from your clothes!"

"Actually dad, I would" Danny immediately regretted saying those words as soon as saw his dad's face go from playful to mortified. Danny hated it when his parents would try to apologize for attacking him all those years and here he was, accidently bringing it up. Playfully, of course, but the words hit too close to home.

Danny and his dad were at a standstill; neither of them saying anything. Jack stopped wiping himself down and Danny was staring at his shoes. It was so quiet, Sam could hear them breathing.

"So" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together, "how about we work on that Ecto-Gun?"

Danny looked up from his shoes and slowly looked at his dad. Jack looked at his son, started cleaning himself with the towel again, and plastered a grin on his face. "That's a great idea! There are some new features I want to show you!"

Sam gave a sympathy smile to the men in the room and headed down to the lab. Jack started walking behind her when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Dad, I'm sorry. You need to know that I didn't-"

"Don't worry about it, son" Jack said, with the plastic smile still on his face. Danny, however, didn't believe it. "Dad, I'm serious."

"So am I, Danny-boy. It's water under the bridge."

Feeling defeated, he didn't say anything else. And with slumped shoulders, Danny walked silently with his father as they headed downstairs.

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 **That's it for this chapter. Thank you for those of you reading! I know there hasn't been any action these past two chapters but there will be, I promise. Maybe in the next chapter ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! This is my longest chapter yet so I really hope you guys enjoy it! Also, a HUGE thank you to those who have reviewed, I really love reading them :D, and I hope I don't let you guys down with this story.**

 **I do not own Danny Phantom :(**

 **On with the show!**

* * *

"Okay, let me get this straight. You're telling me… that if I shoot this gun, it'll lock on a ghost and it _will_ hit them? Even if I don't aim at them?" Danny questioned, holding up the gun with two fingers and inspecting it as if it could detonate at any moment.

Everyone was in the lab so Jack and Tucker could reveal their new weapon. They had been working on it for weeks and they finally said it was ready. They had made a whole event about it. Tucker even sent out an evite, even though the ones who would be participating in the event were already at the house every day. Needless to say, they were excited.

"Yep! It's built in with similar tech that cops use to track cell phones." Tucker proudly announced, crossing his arms and smiling with confidence.

"We call it the Ecto-Shooter and Locator! Get it? Cause it shoots ghosts and locates it!" Jack excitedly announced.

"Yeah dad, we get it" Jazz rolled her eyes, trying to sound unimpressed but was still amused at how ecstatic the two inventors were acting, like two kids in a candy shop. "You know," she added, "you should probably shorten it. You would get shot before you finish saying the name"

Sam smirked at Tucker and nodded towards Jazz. "She's right you know" she confirmed.

"Abbreviate it. ESL" Maddie commented, clapping her hands together excitedly, as if she discovered a gold mine.

Sam widened her eyes and threw her head back in laughter. "ESL. Just like the class Tucker had to take in the third grade"

"Only for a week and that's only because I had just gotten my braces!" Tucker huffed.

Jazz's eyes suddenly brightened. "What if we combined your names?" she hopped up and down happily, proud of her idea, "like Fenton, cause we always use Fenton, and Tucker, we use your first name! So it would be the Fuc- oh. Wait. How about your last name?" she said, visibly cringing.

Sam snickered at Tucker glaring at Jazz before speaking. "How about we come up with the name later?"

"Yes, let's do that" Maddie confirmed.

Danny, who wasn't paying attention to the crisis about the gun name, shut one eye, tilted his head, and continued staring at the gun. "And you said it _won't_ shoot at me?" he asked, still skeptical.

They all turned to Danny. The two inventors looked at each other sheepishly before Tucker answered. "We've programmed it so that it wouldn't lock on your ecto-signature. So, no, theoretically it shouldn't shoot at you. But then again, we're not exactly sure. We have no way of testing it." He admitted.

Danny finally looks away from the gun and hands it to tucker. "Okay. Shoot it"

The whole room erupted into against it. Protests of "No!", "What?!" and "Excuse me?!" spread all across the board, except for Tucker, who immediately got excited, yelled "Okay!" and pointed the gun at Danny. Sam saw this and her eyes widened as she ran and snatched the gun away from Tucker.

"What the hell are you doing?!" she yelled at the two boys.

"Come on Sam, how else could we know if it works?" Danny asked, exasperated.

"No, I forbid it" Maddie declared, crossing her arms in a very clear 'I'm-The-Boss' way.

"Danny, it's just a prototype. It's not safe yet" Jack pleaded.

"Then we need to test it now!" Danny countered, throwing his hands in the air. Frustrated, Danny turned around and laid his hands on the lab table lowered his head, pursing his lips and creasing his eyebrows.

"Last time you used it, it blew up in Dad's face. We need to know if it works" he informed slowly. He heard footsteps getting closer to him and then felt a soft hand on his shoulder.

"You could get hurt, Danny" Sam whispered. Just like that, the crease in his forehead and the frustration-induced headache disappeared and he exhaled deeply, not even realizing that he was holding his breath. He opened his eyes and turned to look at Sam, who had 'worried' written all over her face. He took a deep breath before responding.

"Then I'll heal. Or I'll turn intangible before it hits me. And I have everyone here, I'm sure all of you guys know how to work a first aid kit." He offered her a small smile, hoping to ease the tension.

Jazz, who was completely silent during the argument, finally spoke.

"I think he should do it"

All head whipped towards the redhead.

"Seriously?" Danny asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes. I think you're right. There's no way we can know if it works if we don't test it." She turned her head towards the protestors, "And we're just wasting time arguing about it because you know he's going to find a way to test it, one way or another" she concluded in a matter-of-fact way. Danny saw their expressions slowly falter before they gloomily nodded their heads.

Danny faced Tucker, who got excited again and took the gun from Sam's hands, and pointed it at Danny's arm, so if he _did_ get hurt, it wouldn't be anywhere that could cause _much_ damage.

His finger was on the trigger and he noticed he was shaking. "Ready?" His voice faltered as he suddenly felt nervous as Danny took position about twenty feet away from the gun.

Danny forcefully closed his eyes and tightly pursed his lips as he deeply inhaled. He quickly nodded, starting to regret his decision as his heartbeat quickened in his chest. He knew it wouldn't be the end of the world if he got shot in the arm, but that doesn't mean he _wanted_ to get shot.

Tucker didn't want to look at anyone else but Danny because he already knew the look they were wearing. Hell, it was the look he was sporting right now. Tucker took a deep breath, concentrated on Danny's arm, pulled the trigger, and awaited the outcome.

Nothing happened.

Danny carefully opened his eyes and inspected his body to look for any unwelcome ectoplasm bullet holes. He grinned at everyone who looked just as excited and relieved. Even Tucker looked relieved, as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Great!" Danny congratulated, "Now we can-" he quickly whipped his head to the portal and went ghost when he felt his ghost sense, and the FSS, go off. And everyone else froze when they saw Spectra emerge from it, in her ghost form. The ectoplasm from the FSS tried to hit her, but she quickly dodged it and Jack disabled the security system. Spectra wasn't an enemy, not anymore.

Danny didn't move. He was confused. What was she doing here? They had come to an agreement aside from the truce. He had helped her find a way to get energy that didn't involve stealing energy from the humans and for that, she would be Danny's ally if the truce were to ever go sour.

"Uh, hey Spectra. What's up? Are you lost?" He asked, completely perplexed at the situation. She was still floating, not doing anything, until she sighed with remorse and softly said "Sorry kid"

He creased his forehead. "Sorry? What are you sorry- Hey!" he dodged the shot she threw at him.

"Guys, get out of here!" he yelled at his friends and family.

"We're not leaving!" Sam announced before grabbing the currently-named ESL and shot it at Spectra. Spectra shrieked as the ectoplasm hit her and threw her to the wall. She fell down to the floor before getting shot again by the Fenton Wrist Ray that Tucker and Jazz were holding, not having enough time to actually wrap around their wrists. She kept wailing in pain as they kept shooting. Danny suddenly felt fear for the ghost as he saw her shaking and curling herself into a ball, "Stop! You're hurting her!" he urged at them. Tucker and Jazz's shooting immediately ceased and they all observed the ghost. Spectra sat still, shaking, and Danny was about to approach her until she disappeared.

"Where did she go?" Jazz gulped.

It was too silent. They all knew Spectra hadn't left yet. Maddie grabbed the Fenton Finder and scanned the room. She was still in the room but where? Maddie finally got a lock on her. Right in front of-

"Danny, look out!" Spectra materialized and punched Danny in the stomach, causing him to hit the wall. He winced and put a hand on his stomach as she blasted energy from her hands straight towards wall he was leaning on. He quickly flew away from the attacks and saw everyone who was on the floor shooting at Spectra again, except for Sam, who was now holding a thermos and trying to aim it at her.

Danny realized he was flying in circles; he wasn't attacking, he was only blocking the Ecto-Rays being shot at him. He wasn't ready for this. He wasn't prepared. He quickly faced Spectra and stopped flying; hoping she would notice that he wasn't going to fight and she would stop and explain.

"What are you doing?! We had a truce!" yelled a suddenly very desperate Danny.

"Things change!" cried the ghost, as she continued shooting at him, each time more urgent than the last.

In retrospect, maybe not fighting back wasn't one of his best ideas as one of the rays hit him in the chest and he flew backwards until he hit yet another wall and fell onto a table and broke it.

The Fenton's, Sam, and Tucker all yelled for Danny as they saw him break the table and not move afterwards. They stopped shooting at Spectra and tried to run as quickly as possible towards him. They didn't notice that Spectra disappeared until she showed up again, surrounding them. And they all felt stupid for dropping their weapons when they tried running to Danny. They were powerless and defenseless. However, Spectra didn't do anything. She just looked at them in sadness and remorse.

"What do you want?" Sam spat out.

"You are breaking the truce!" Tucker snarled.

"I don't want this!" Spectra cried back desperately.

"Then why are you doing this?!" Jazz shouted back. None of them were able to move yet; she still had them completely surrounded.

"I need to!" She retaliated as she disappeared again.

Tucker, Sam, and the Fenton's all looked at each other perplexed before Spectra materialized again and snatched Jazz, and flew towards the portal.

Maddie and Jack cried out for Jazz as they raced towards their weapons and tried shooting at Spectra with terrible aim, therefore, failing miserably. Sam quickly looked around until she set her eyes on her weapon of choice. Tucker saw what Sam was doing so he grabbed his wrist ray as he ran to the portal to attempt to close it before Spectra got there. Sam ran until she finally reached the ESL and pulled the trigger. The shot hit Spectra and she dropped Jazz as she wailed in pain. Jack ran as Jazz fell and he caught her before she hit the ground.

Spectra recovered and flew towards Tucker and attempted to attack again. He held his wrist ray and aimed it her, about to fire, before he saw her get sucked into the thermos being held by Danny. He lowered his arm, wiped the sweat from his brow, leaned his head against the Fenton Portal, and sighed deeply of relief.

"Danny. Are you okay?" a concerned Jazz asked, still being held by her father.

"Yeah. I'm fine" he claimed, walking towards her and putting his hand on her shoulder, "Are you?"

"Yeah. I'm okay."

Danny sat down on the floor next to Jazz and his father and Maddie did the same. Tucker and Sam looked at each other and shrugged before they sat alongside with them. They didn't do anything but just absorb each other's presence. They were sweaty and the lab was pretty much destroyed. But they were all there, they were all okay, and that was all that mattered at that moment. Nobody said anything; it was almost like a silent agreement that they would deal with reality later.

That was, until Danny opened his mouth.

"So. What the fuck just happened?" and just like that, reality demanded attention. They had to face the fear that they all secretly had for two years but hoped the day would never come.

Nobody answered Danny; but he didn't need one. He knew what happened. He pulled his legs to his chest and stared at the open portal, half expecting more ghosts to fly out. Why wouldn't they? The word would be going out and their era of peace would soon be abandoned as everyone found out the news.

He realized he was starting to get antsy about not doing anything. They needed to make a game plan. But he knew they wouldn't be able to work right if they didn't say their fear out loud. He needed to answer the question nobody else wanted to acknowledge. He took one last look at the portal before he acknowledged reality.

"The truce is broken."

* * *

 **DUN DUN DUUUUUN. So much drama, so little time XD I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! If you did, please let me know, it would make me very happy. Thank you! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Welcome back! Let's have fun!**

* * *

Everyone was seated in the kitchen, trying to make sense of the events that occurred in the lab just a few hours earlier. They were getting restless and still felt on edge from the seemingly random attack. They had decided that Spectra could have been the one who went in the lab a couple weeks before the attack but that was the only idea they had. They didn't know a motive or a cause. They all tried to come up with something but, after a while, their theories just weren't making any sense. Tucker said Spectra attacked because she was bored and wanted to lose the fight. It only got worse from there.

It was now almost one in the morning and Maddie decided that they should get a good night's rest and discuss about it more in the morning. The trio and Jazz were apprehensive at first, but when they all took turns yawning, they agreed with her. Danny then suggested that he walked Sam and Tucker home so he could know they were safe and Maddie and Jack agreed, so long that he returned home immediately after.

Tucker and Danny were walking Sam home first and none of them were saying anything. They were all exhausted and tensed up and, frankly, Danny didn't know what to say to them. He felt betrayed by Spectra. He had trusted her. They had a deal; help her find a way to retain energy and her youth, and she doesn't attack Amity and becomes Danny's ally. Now he didn't know what to think. If he had trusted Spectra and she broke his trust, did that mean that he couldn't trust any of the other ghosts either?

Sam was the first one to break the silence during their awkward walk home.

"I never realized that we were always looking over our shoulders before the truce. I forgot what it's like to feel this anxious. It's almost suffocating." she whispered, almost to herself. The boys, each on her side, turned their heads towards her, almost surprised at the break in silence. She dug her hands in her pocket and stared at the road, kicking several rocks in front of her.

Tucker, concerned, put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. "Sam, we're going to find out what's going on. We always do." She gave him a sad smile and laid her head on his shoulder.

Danny looked at his friends and raised an eyebrow at them. Tucker noticed and chuckled, "Oh, come on bro. Learn to share, she's my friend too." Danny felt his cheeks go warm and he turned away immediately, looking at the houses they were passing. Sam lifted her head from Tucker's shoulder and gently smiled at Danny before she reached over and took his hand. Danny looked down at their intertwined hands and then at her, feeling a mixture of shock, joy, and- the one he felt most surprised with- strength.

"We'll be okay, you know" he told her resolutely. He held her hand a little bit tighter as he stopped walking and observed Sam and Tucker. He realized he needed his friends; both of them. He knew they would be there for him as they had to face trials that most teenagers wouldn't have to face. If he couldn't trust ghosts, at least he could trust his two friends that helped protect him _from_ ghosts. He knew he owed them everything, and he planned on repaying them by always keeping them safe.

He continued holding Sam's hand as he put his other hand on Tucker's shoulder and looked at his two friends reassuringly and smiled at them.

"We have each other".

* * *

"This attack from Spectra isn't going to be the last one" Danny told Tucker after Sam walked into her house.

"I know," he turned around and started walking to his house, "but we'll be ready. Your dad and I have a lot of ideas for new inventions. It's not just you, Sam, and I anymore. We have Jazz now and your parents. We all bring something to this. We got this, man" he reassured Danny, who kicked a rock and sighed. "I know. I just wish I knew why Spectra did this. We had a deal."

"Well, you could always bring her out of the thermos." Tucker suggested.

Danny glared at the floor, "No. She's staying in there. I'm not going to give her the opportunity to try to take Jazz, or anyone else, again."

"You know, you need to let her out sometime. We can ask her for information." He inquired, trying to get through to Danny.

"I'll let her out when we figure out a solution. And we'll do it without her help."

* * *

Danny finally got home and saw his sister sleeping in the kitchen, sleeping with her head and spread arms on the kitchen table. He went over and gently shook her shoulder. She groaned slightly before she opened her eyes.

"Oh hi Danny," she said sleepily, with her head still on the table, "I was waiting for you to come back and I guess I fell asleep."

He smiled gratefully at her and sat down next to her.

"Did they get home okay?" she asked, still groggy. He nodded.

"Danny, I don't think you should be too mad at Spectra. For what it's worth, she seemed hesitant about the whole thing."

Danny felt his anger come back as he clenched his fists and glared at nothing in particular. "She tried to take you away, Jazz." He growled. She finally lifted her head and looked at her little brother.

"I understand that, Danny. But you didn't see what I saw. She looked…almost regretful. I just think there's more to this story than we know."

Danny sighed and he unclenched his fists, pursing his lips as he pondered on her words.

"Well," he decided, "then it seems I'm gonna have to get the full story."

* * *

He made several holes in the wall as he angrily and recklessly blasted ectorays from his hands, awaiting for his guest. How foolish was he! He should've known better than to trust that ghost. A ghost of _vanity_ , of all things. He has brought this upon himself. He had gotten overzealous and he missed an opportunity.

No. He had more opportunities. This was not his fault. This was that stupid ghost who didn't know how to take orders. Her little friend will surly pay for her idiotic mistakes. He has done everything right. The only mistake he made was picking the wrong ghost as his confidante. Well, _confidante_ was perhaps not the right word. Minion? Slave? He liked those words. Alas, he had lost a minion but he knew better than to mourn in those who didn't deserve his affection.

Oh, no, his walls were dreadful with those blasted holes. He suddenly felt his anger flare up again. If it weren't for that _stupid ghost_ , he would have his captive, he would have the cameras in the Fenton lab, he wouldn't have felt those _unpleasant_ feelings, and he wouldn't have blasted his walls.

 _Her fault her fault her fault._ He repeated to himself until he heard his guest appear and he plastered on a pleasant smile.

"Oh, welcome! Please, have a seat" he motioned to the chair he had in front of the blasted walls.

"I'm not interested. You need to give me the information I need now." The ghost demanded.

He raised an eyebrow at his, ahem, guest before throwing his head back in laughter.

"Oh, this is pleasant! You believe you have the upper hand! How wonderful!" his demeanor changed as he blasted the chair into smithereens and scowled at the ghost, who took a step back.

"I sent out a ghost to do a job and she failed. I was _slightly_ _unhappy_ when I heard the news she got caught" he spoke with grinded teeth and clenched fists, "but" he loosened his fists and put on a tight smile "I am one to always see the silver lining in situations."

"What is your point?!"

"I wonder what it must be like to fail. Especially when you know you have someone counting on you. It truly is a shame." He almost giggled at how giddy he felt when the ghost glared at him with disgust.

"Do _not_ toy with me. Why are you telling me about this?"

His heart quickened in delight as he smirked at his new minion.

"Now it's your turn. Try not to fail- you have someone counting on you."

* * *

 **Yippee! Another chapter done! I hope you enjoyed it- I know there wasn't any action in it but I wanted everyone to ponder on the current situation that was going on. Anyway, i'll see you next time!**

 **-reading and stuff**


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